A great grandmother dying of cancer was discharged in agony from hospital with only paracetamol to aid her pain relief.

Alice Bole, 87, died just eight days later.

Her grand-daughter Heather Robertson, 42, from Kilmarnock said: “My gran was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago but she just took a pill every day and it seemed to keep it at bay.

“I looked after her but she began to get slight dementia and she needed more care than I could give her so she went to live with my mum in Lochaber.

“In November she started to get ill. My mum thought she had a urine infection so she took her to the doctor who prescribed antibiotics. She had three different types but it didn’t clear up and by this time she was barely eating or drinking anything.

“Gran was a wee tea jenny - she would have drunk a cup of tea every 10 minutes if you’d let her but she wouldn’t drink tea at all. And she would only eat tiny amounts because food as making her choke.”

Cancer-struck Alice was given paracetamol by hospital staff when discharged (Image: Peter Jolly)

“The next day, December 23, she was discharged from hospital. She had been in there for nine days without any pain relief and when she was discharged she was told she could have Tramadol but as there wasn’t any at the hospital; they’d give her paracetamol.

“Gran couldn’t swallow tablets anyway but what good was paracetamol going to do with three different cancers. She must have been in an incredible amount of pain.”

On Christmas Eve Alice made the 165 mile journey to Kilmarnock to be with her family for Christmas. She stayed with Heather but her other children and grandchildren also live in the area so they were also able to pop in to see her.

As soon as she arrived Heather’s husband Alan, 44, called the out of hours doctor to come to see her because she was in so much pain.

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Heather stated: “The doctor was here in half an hour and said we would never make the journey back north. He said she shouldn’t have been discharged and that her treatment had been a disgrace.

“He spent two hours on his phone in his car arranging for district nurses to come in to attend to her and left morphine for them to give her whenever she needed it. Within 10 minutes she was free of pain.

“It is sickening knowing she was in Belford for nine days without any pain relief and was discharged with paracetamol.”

On December 27 Alice was found a bed in Ayrshire Hospice where Heather said the staff were “brilliant” but aghast at the treatment she had received. Just five days after being admitted she died.

Heather said: “If gran had been given fluids and pain relief in the Belford it may have kept her going a bit longer but it is not about that, it is about the basic human right to proper treatment so she did not have to suffer in pain.

“We are speaking out because who knows how many other families have had to suffer like this. We don’t want it to happen to anyone else.

“It doesn’t matter that she was old and going to die she still had the right to be treated as a human being.”

The 87-year-old spent nine days in Belford Hospital in Fort William without pain relief (Image: Peter Jolly)

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Janice Preston, head of cancer charity Macmillan in Scotland, said: “Dealing with a terminal cancer diagnosis is devastating. It’s absolutely vital those who have received this diagnosis in hospital are only released when the right palliative care, support and pain relief is in place.

“Everyone deserves to get all the support they need so their final weeks are as pain-free and peaceful as possible.

“It also essential no one is told they have cancer, particularly given a terminal diagnosis, without the opportunity to have a loved one with them when they’re given the news.”

Last night Scottish Labour’s health spokesman Anas Sarwar said this is “yet another tragic case in our NHS”.

He added: “The NHS staff go above and beyond but there still remains the fat that there are not enough resources to meet demand and our existing NHS staff are overworked, under resourced and undervalued which is putting more pressure on our existing staff and that is now impacting on patient care.

“This should be robustly investigated to make sure there are no future tragic cases like this.”

A spokesman from NHS Highland said: “NHS Highland can confirm that a member of hospital staff has spoken to the named patient’s daughter. She was asked to send a letter, when she felt ready, of the specifics of her complaint and was told that it would be thoroughly investigated.”